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  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) military and (b) civilian personnel were employed within Defence Intelligence in each of the last six years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The strength of Defence Intelligence for Service and civilian personnel at year end for the years 2010-11 to 2015-16 was:

    Year

    Service Personnel

    Civilians

    2015-16 (at January 2016)

    2,137

    1,360

    2014-15

    2,332

    1,365

    2013-14

    2,412

    1,323

    2012-13

    2,458

    1,306

    2011-12

    2,323

    1,132

    2010-11

    2,330

    1,326

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK civilian personnel are currently deployed on military operations; and in what capacity such personnel are deployed.

    Penny Mordaunt

    There are 84 UK civilian personnel currently deployed on behalf of the Ministry of Defence on military operations. 26 of those are deployed as UK civil servants undertaking a range of essential roles including policy, legal and scientific advice, financial and commercial services, and delivery of the Government’s ex gratia redundancy and intimidation schemes for locally employed civilians. 58 of those 84 are deployed as contractors, undertaking a range of support roles.

    In both cases, the roles are undertaken principally in Kabul and locations across the Gulf.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) military and (b) civilian personnel have been employed as security guards (i) directly and (ii) by external third parties contracted by his Department in each of the last six years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) employs the MOD Guard Service (MGS) and the Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) to guard some of their establishments.

    Over the last six years the following numbers have been employed:

    FY

    MPGS

    MGS

    2010-11

    2,310

    3,593

    2011-12

    2,510

    3,439

    2012-13

    2,630

    3,110

    2013-14

    2,770

    2,734

    2014-15

    2,810

    2,064

    2015-16

    2,940

    2,035

    The MOD also uses commercial civilian guarding at some sites where this is more cost effective. However, the numbers of security guards employed by third parties is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Emily Thornberry – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on recruitment agency fees in each of the last six years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has made payments to recruitment agencies in the last six years as follows:

    Calendar Year

    Total Payments

    2010

    £120,905

    2011

    £143,785

    2012

    £283,725

    2013

    £372,937

    2014

    £583,086

    2015

    £121,879

    This expenditure relates to recruitment to the permanent Senior Civil Service across the MOD, including the Trading Funds. It represents the costs of searches, advertisements, response handling, assessment and support to selection panels. The figures do not include expenditure on Contingent Labour, the process used to engage temporary staff through recruitment agency contracts.

    Generally, recruitment to the MOD for all grades below the Senior Civil Service is carried out by Defence Business Services who do not make use of external recruitment agencies when appointing MOD Crown Servants. This is not the case in Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), which is now a bespoke trading entity. Since 2013, DE&S has made use of agency support in recruiting staff in order to ensure it has access to suitably qualified and experienced personnel to fill specialist vacancies. DE&S expenditure is as follows:

    Calendar Year

    Total Payments (£ million)

    2013

    1.75

    2014

    2.0

    2015

    0.5

  • Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Kate Hollern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hollern on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 23620, what steps his Department has taken to implement new Government guidelines to help UK steel suppliers compete effectively for future defence projects; and what processes or policies have been changed as a result of those guidelines.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has issued new policy outlining the steps that should be taken to meet the Government’s aim of levelling the playing field for UK steel producers. This policy emphasises the importance of pre-market engagement, including through industry days, and signalling future requirements for steel. The MOD has also written to its largest defence contractors to highlight the new guidelines.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what programmes his Department is developing relating to cyber defence.

    Penny Mordaunt

    The Defence Cyber Programme delivers cyber defence activities for Defence as a whole. It incorporates the following strands:

    Defensive cyber;

    People and training;

    Information and intelligence;

    Strategic direction;

    Offensive cyber.

    Further to this, each single Service has their own cyber transformation programme within which they are undertaking projects to understand and meet defensive cyber requirements specific to each Service.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many visits the armed forces made to state secondary schools in (a) Inverclyde and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Armed Forces never visit schools for recruitment purposes and would only ever visit a school after being invited by a teacher to support school activities. Similar contributions to schools are made by the Police, Fire, Ambulance and other emergency services. The Armed Forces receive numerous requests from schools each year and the three Services take these opportunities to both explain their role, and to assist schools in teaching valuable skills such as leadership, teamwork and citizenship.

    These visits can comprise presentations, citizenship talks, meetings with staff, participation in career events, practice interviews and activities with the students, such as science and maths challenges, and other indoor or outdoor exercises.

    Information on the number of visits by the Royal Navy and the Army to secondary schools is presented below, by Financial Year (FY); the category of secondary educational establishment (such as state or independent) is not recorded. Details of visits by the Royal Air Force could not be provided in the time available and I will write to the hon. Member when the information is available.

    Royal Navy

    FY

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Scotland

    267

    176

    176

    150

    88

    Inverclyde

    1

    0

    3

    4

    0

    Note: 2015-16 to 12 February 2016.

    Army

    FY

    2011-12

    2012-13

    2013-14

    2014-15

    2015-16

    Scotland

    191

    199

    175

    203

    279

    Inverclyde

    Not Known

    Not Known

    Not Known

    6

    1

    Note: 2015-16 includes events confirmed to the end of March 2016.

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people under the age of 18 in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK were recruited to the armed forces in each of the last five years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    No information is held regarding the number of Service personnel under the age of 18 who were recruited in Scotland alone.

    The figures for the annual intake of under 18’s into the UK Regular Forces as a whole are summarised below.

    Ministry of Defence policy dictates that no-one under the age of 18 can join the Armed Forces without specific parental consent, both for the recruiting process to begin and again prior to joining; nor can they be deployed outside of the UK or to front-line operations.

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Number of people recruited into the UK Regular Forces under the age of 18

    2, 920

    2,260

    2,130

    2,180

    Notes: Figures reflect intake for the 12 months ending 30 September in each year. Statistics for 12 months ending 30 September 2011 have not been published, however, statistics for 12 months ending 31 March 2011 are available in Tables 5 to 7 of the Annual Personnel Report:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/280426/1-april-2011.pdf

    A detailed breakdown, by age, of the intake to UK Regular Forces can be found in Tables 8 and 8a of our Biannual Diversity Statistics publication:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2015

  • Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Ronnie Cowan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ronnie Cowan on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimates his Department has made of the amount of unexploded ordinance in the River Clyde.

    Mark Lancaster

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has made no estimate of the amount of unexploded ordinance (UXO) in the River Clyde.

    The Royal Navy routinely survey important shipping routes in the Clyde and make safe any ordnance discovered. In addition they occasionally make safe ordnance discovered in the Clyde by other non-defence means. All UXO identified in the Clyde is removed and/or made safe.

    MOD information on sea dumped munitions in the British Isles has been placed in the public domain; it can be accessed at the following internet address:

    http://tna.europarchive.org/20091204111626/http:/mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/HealthandSafetyPublications/DSEA/DisposalOfMunitionsAtSea.htm

    The records show no historic dump sites in the River Clyde.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department and non-departmental public bodies receive (a) home to work travel allowance, (b) a car allowance and (c) subsidised health insurance.

    Mark Lancaster

    Information on non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I am able to provide the following information for core Ministry of Defence Civil Servants.

    Home to work travel allowance has been interpreted as Excess Fares Allowance. This is paid to staff who move from one establishment to another on the Department’s instruction. It is normally paid for a maximum period of four years and compensates the officer for additional travel costs they have incurred as a result of the move. The number in receipt of regular Excess Fares Allowance is 1,390.

    Car allowance and subsidised health insurance are not routinely paid. There are, however, four officers in receipt of car allowance and 14 officers in receipt of subsidised health insurance as they retained their terms and conditions following an inward transfer from the private sector under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.